Colorado: Life and Light on the Land

Photographer Robert Castellino has been photographing the Colorado landscape for almost 3 decades. His latest book “Colorado: Life and Light on the Land,” is a limited edition collectable featuring photos of dramatic landscapes in Colorado and National Parks in the American West, showcases the natural beauty of the state.  

“When you make photographs and you’ve been someplace for a long time, you start to take note of changes, and you start to take note of details, because you go back and visit those places over and over. I have a love affair with Colorado’s landscape and everything Colorado, from border to border, top to bottom, side to side. And what you find is visiting those places, you get a sense of the power of the journey that you’re on, visiting them, the beauty of it, how it affects and defines your life.”

Castellino says that as a photographer, he is uniquely positioned to observe the changes in the environment as a result of things like climate change. He hopes the images will inspire viewers to appreciate the value of public lands.

“Public lands are under tremendous pressure and attack right now from so many interests that have no concern about their value to the general public and what they bring to us in Colorado, and they bring so much to us in Colorado. With 5.5 million Coloradans that are year round residents, we have an additional 77.7 million visitors that come here each year to visit this magnificent place, recreate, enjoy and vacation. That brings about $19 billion into our economy, which is a massive economic engine unto itself. The strain comes from those interests that are interested in extraction, from mining, gas and oil exploration. Everywhere I go from the Pawnee Grasslands to the Comanche Grasslands, to the outside edges of our National and State Parks, there’s pressure on those lands to develop them for the last bits of what can be taken for profit, as opposed to the value in the long term without regard to what they bring to the public and our relationship to them.”

Robert Castellino will speak about Colorado: Life and Light on the Land, and will discuss the art of photographing landscapes and the need for stewardship of public lands, at the Boulder Bookstore on Wednesday June 21st at 7.30pm.

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